This three credit seminar teaches the important skills that lawyers use up until the time of trial. Since the vast majority of cases settle before trial, a lawyer's success has at least as much to do with mastery of the nuts and bolts of pre-trial advocacy as courtroom prowess. The seminar will use a simulation approach to cover skills that include:

* Interviewing and counseling clients.

* Drafting a complaint.

* Drafting interrogatories and responses to interrogatories.

* Taking and defending depositions.

* Drafting a pre-trial memorandum.

* Participating in a mediation conference.

Students will receive immediate feedback from the instructors on the in-class simulations. The seminar is limited to approx 36 students. Second and third year students are eligible. This course is being offered on a pass/fail basis.

Expectations and Goals

By the end of this course, students should:
* Acquire a deeper understanding of how the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure work from a strategic perspective in the context of actual litigation;
* Develop negotiation skills in the “meet and confer” context;
* Begin developing the ability to exercise judgment, based on acquired knowledge, in hypothetical situations that mirror real life litigation;
* Understand the process of litigation from filing to final judgment in a strategic and professional manner;
* Develop the ability to identify client objectives and craft litigation strategy; and,
* Learn to appreciate a lawyer’s role in civil litigation, including the use of procedural tools such as discovery and motions, as well as how to conduct oneself consistent with the standards of professional conduct.